Dead Man Walking
by Cassandra147
Summary: There are things Lin Beifong does not tolerate. Attacking her family is one of them.


Summary: There are things Lin Beifong does not tolerate. Attacking her family is one of them.

Author's Note: Sorry for any editing mishaps, I wanted to publish before the finale airs.

* * *

Lin did not wait to hear the footsteps to disappear - hurried and frantic - or the voices to fade - full of panic and desperation and fear. She did not wait to listen to the exclamations and frenzied reactions - not for the shouts into a line with no one listening on the other end, not for the eruptions of demands to leave this very moment and high-pitched suppositions on what might be happening to the Airbenders.

She left.

Heading downstairs, she entered her sister's bedroom and her sister's stocked closet. She liberated a thick cloak, gloves, scarf, and a hat from its depths, donning them.

Then she walked outside to where the dragon rested, his wings folded.

She bowed.

"I need you to take me to the Northern Air Temple," she stated. "Please." Wings flared, neck swiveled. Fierce eyes stared her down.

Lin met his gaze. "If you don't, there may be another massacre of Airbenders. Lord Zuko entrusted me with handling the Red Lotus. But I require your aid to do so."

It wasn't wholly a lie. Just a twisting of the truth.

The dragon considered, tongue flicking, for an endless minute. Lin waited, still as a stone statue.

Druk's great head nodded. Catching hold of spikes, Lin swung herself into the saddle. A quick check of the bags revealed them to contain a canteen and travel rations, as she had suspected. It wouldn't do for her to arrive without the energy to fight.

"I'm ready," she told the dragon. In a lurch, they were airborne.

Lin leaned forwards, calling into the wind, "Use the jet streams. We have no time to waste." She tucked the cloak tight about herself as they climbed, the cold intensifying.

It was a bloody sunset.

They flew through the night. Lin bent low on the dragon's neck and forced herself to sleep. It was neither deep or dreamless, but when the brilliance of dawn came, she was clear-headed and alert. Mechanically, she drank the remainder of the water and ate the dried fruit and jerky. In turn, she called each of her blades to her - from boot and belt and vambrace - and honed their edges.

On approach, Lin steered the dragon around the mountains to come upon the Temple from the east. Anyone looking in the direction would be trying to see into the sun. They flew level with the sun before dropping down and swooping up from beneath the Temple. They landed on the bottommost part of the path, hidden by an overhang.

Lin kept a careful watch on the Temple as they did so, but it seemed as if no lookout had been set. She smiled grimly. Airships would take twice as long as she had. Zaheer thought he was safe. She stripped off the outerwear.

"Wait for my signal," she told Druk, showing him her police whistle. "You can hide here until then."

She made a cave, large enough to conceal the dragon. For herself, she created a large bubble of rock, assumed the lotus position, closed her eyes, and lifted her hands.

With seismic ripples as her guide, she flew upwards in her stone cocoon. She halted underneath the floor of the lowest level of the Temples, the storerooms if she recalled correctly. Sensing no heartbeats near, she broke the floor smoothly and emerged.

She resealed the opening behind her. She wanted no risk of her enemies discovering her presence. She wanted to see them long before they saw her.

Like a ghost, Lin passed through walls, stone melting to allow her passage and molding back together without a trace. She glided along empty corridors, ripples of distant movement leading her in the right direction.

It was the others she found first - the new Airbenders, Opal, the children, and Pema.

Finger to her lips, she hushed their surprise. To the last, even to Meelo and Ikki, they had their hands and feet entombed in rock. Lin broke their bonds. She ignored the odor of stale urine which came from a handful.

"Go," she murmured, pointing to the tunnel from which she'd emerged. She laid her hand on its wall, followed its course, and adjusted its exit. "This goes to the main path. Put your hand on its wall to feel your way. When you get to the path, keep up against the cliff and be quiet. Hide in the forest."

"Won't someone see us?" hissed an Airbender. "On the path?"

"If you stay against the cliff, it'll be hard. They'd have to be looking." Lin set her jaw. "I intend to keep them too busy to look."

"What about Daddy?" whimpered Meelo.

"They hurt him, bad, and Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi," Ikki whispered.

"I want to stay -" began Jinora.

"Me too -" Meelo whispered.

"No." Soft as silk, cold as ice, Lin's voice silenced any thought of arguing. "You will not. I cannot protect you and go after Zaheer. You will leave, now."

She turned to Pema. "Make sure they obey." Mutely, Pema nodded and grabbed Ikki's and Meelo's hands.

"But Daddy…" Ikki whimpered.

Lin felt the sharp steel of her knives. "I promise, I will do whatever is in my power, to make sure your father is safe. And Kya and Bumi. Now, move it."

They headed for the tunnel, Pema and the younger ones going first.

Jinora paused on the threshold. Hesitantly, she said, "I think Ming-Hua's a blood-bender. I hear her...with Aunt Kya...Aunt...she...she was screaming."

Lin nodded. "Thank you, Jinora. That's good to know."

Jinora joined her mother and siblings; the dark swallowed them and the two new Airbenders who had lingered to bring up the rear.

For their safety, Lin refrained from sealing up the tunnel. They needed the airflow and a way back, just in case. Instead, she rendered the doors into the room unusable by anyone trying to get in, but not out.

Again, her seismic sense guided her rightly. Air, fire, and earth - even lava - she could handle, a bloodbender could be her undoing.

Ming-Hua didn't have the chance to scream. A cable whipped around her throat. Lin twisted the ends - and Ming-Hua dropped to the floor. Lin hid her body in the nearest room, covered by a ripped-down tapestry.

Ghazan foolishly ventured onto a balcony. Lin yanked on its supports. Using his bending, he survived the fall, but in the commotion, failed to avoid the hunk of flying metal aimed at his skull.

He crumpled onto a pile of rubble. Lin buried him in it.

"_You've got it be smart about it, Lin." Sokka surveyed the diagram of the warehouse, nearly forty names of gang members listed alongside it. "If you're outnumbered, don't try to attack head on. Try to thin them out first. Get the odds more even." _

"_You think what's honorable matters?" sneered Azula, twirling a throwing knife. It flashed, momentarily blinding Lin's sixteen-year-old eyes. "What matters is who wins. Not how. Lie, cheat, trick, attack them from behind, whatever it takes - as long as you win."_

She'd reduced the odds. Eliminated lava- and blood-bending, both of with which she had little experience. Four against one to two against one.

She kept going.

From behind a pillar, she looked down into the coliseum's center and ice ran in her veins. Gagged with feet and hands encased in rock, Bumi slumped against a wall. Next to him, Kya lay on her side, bound with thick ropes, and curled in on herself. Next to her was Tenzin.

They'd broken his right leg. In more than one place.

Effective. It was very effective.

He couldn't run. Couldn't fight properly either.

And neither Kya nor Bumi would have left him behind, hobbling them too- even if they somehow made it free.

She narrowed her eyes, struggling to see better. Zaheer was facing him, his rambles a white noise in her ears, which Lin hoped meant Tenzin was conscious. With the extent of the bruises, she couldn't tell if his eyes were open. He twisted his head a little, and she saw his eyes were indeed open.

Pulling back, Lin considered her options. Right now, Zaheer and P'Li were fixated on the captives. They were close to them. If she swung down now, they might well kill one or more before she could intervene.

She gritted her teeth. She wanted their attention focused outwards. More dangerous for her, less dangerous for the hostages.

"_Blow into this and you can be heard all over the Temple," Aang explained, patting the horn-like object. _

Ten minutes later, Lin stood before the device. Three flights of stairs up, the tower overlooked the rooftop of the coliseum. No one inside the coliseum, however, could see her nor could she see them.

She placed the whistle to her lips.

"Wheeeet! Wheeeet! " The silence shattered. "Wheet! Wheet! Wheeeet! Wheeeet!"

Two short-two long-two short. The Chief's own whistle. _Her _whistle, based off her first borough's whistle and adding two shorts on the end. Tenzin would know it. Bumi should too.

Cable hooked on the windowsill, she lowered herself to the rooftop. She slid on her belly, until she could see over the edge into the coliseum.

Zaheer and P'Li stood together, in the center, glancing around and around.

"I think it came -" began Zaheer, raising his arm to point "-that way." Lin jerked her head back. She squirmed sideways, putting herself out of the direct sight line to the tower so as not to appear straight ahead in their view.

A quick pulse of seismic sense, an anchoring of cables, throwing knives in hand, and she leaped.

Zaheer evaded his.

P'Li didn't; it slashed across her shoulders.

Lin spiraled, avoiding the return blasts. She landed with an almighty thump, shaking the ground and causing her enemies to falter while she rolled to her feet.

Zaheer aimed at her, only to find her in the air again. Stones flew at them both; Lin careened around the coliseum, cables leaping from column to column. Zaheer flung burst after burst at her, rising into the air himself, yet she managed to avoid them.

P'Li blasted the columns again and again. Lin backtracked, causing a single section, on the very opposite side from the hostages, to be hit multiple times.

Roaring, it collapsed. Dust filled the air.

Lin landed on cat's feet. Zaheer whirled his hands, trying to clear the battleground - but Lin was faster.

Cables slammed into he and P'Li. P'Li doubled over, the cable having hit her sideways in the midsection. Only escaping impalement by virtue of his Airbending reflexes, the cable sliced Zaheer's left bicep. Blood spattered onto the ground.

Amply supplied with ammunitions now, Lin hurtled stone after stone. Sinkholes appeared beneath their feet.

Lin refused to allow Zaheer to become airborne. Each time he tried, she used her cables and stones to ground him. Once it cost her a graze by P'Li.

She closed the gap between them, forcing them to retreat to use their particular abilities most effectively. Each time they retreated, she pressed forwards.

Thunder boomed - Druk had found them.

Fire washed over Zaheer and P'Li, the firebender only just managing to withstand it long enough for the two to dive behind a pillar.

"Protect them!" Lin shouted, waving at Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi. The dragon obeyed, planting himself between the hostages and the ongoing battle. He bared his teeth, hissing.

Zaheer and P'Li came out blasting.

Three blasts in, P'Li stumbled. "Zaheer! I can't-"

She toppled.

"P'Li!" Zaheer's face darkened with rage. Lin smiled.

"You should have left her in prison. At least she'd - and Ming-Hua and Ghazan - would still be alive," she taunted, crisp and carrying.

His next shot went wild.

Lin dogged it with ease. "You led them here to die. How does that feel?"

He attacked. Viciously. Relentlessly. Desperately.

He evaded Druk's blasts, Lin's rocks and cables, and managed to land a mighty blow on Lin. She banged against the wall.

In the split-second of Lin's disorientation, he began to choke her.

"_If someone has their hands around your throat, don't try to dislodge their hands. Chances are you won't be able to pry them off before you pass out. Go for __their__ eyes or throat instead," advised Sokka. _

Using the stone behind her, Lin launched herself at Zaheer. Unprepared, too blinded by his own anger, he had left himself completely open.

She buried steel tines in his lungs.

Air rushed into her own.

Blood frothed in his mouth, his eyes blown wide. Lin stepped back, the newly bent blades extending from her gauntlets stained red.

Zaheer collapsed, death rattle on his breath.

Lin didn't wait to watch him die.

She checked P'Li, alive but very much unconscious.

"My thanks, Princess Azula," Lin mumbled. Silver-tongue viper's venom was rare and potent, something only a Fire Nation Princess could give as a gift. Coated on a knife, the poison sent a person into a near-coma for three days.

Druk moved aside for her as she walked towards the hostages. She said "Watch those two please. If P'Li twitches or if Zaheer tries one last trick, roast them."

On her breeches, she wiped her hands as clean of blood as possible before she reached Tenzin.

"Lin?" His voice didn't count even as a whisper, strained and weak.

Lin crouched and cut his bonds, careful to avoid his leg. "It's okay, it's going to be okay."

"I know." He might have tried to smile. "I knew...I knew you'd come."

Lin cupped his cheek, gentle as she could, and met his gaze. It was obviously pained, but he was able to focus on her. "I'm going to free Bumi and Kya, you need to stay awake, okay?"

"Okay." She started to straighten; he caught at her hand. "My…" His voice failed.

"Your kids are fine, Tenzin. The other Airbenders and Pema too," she said firmly. He relaxed.

As Bumi was garbling through his gag, Lin went to Kya before him. He obviously could afford to wait. At her nudging, the water-bender roused.

"Kya?" Kya struggled upright, flailing. Lin slit her ropes quickly and threw her arms around Kya. "It's Lin, you're alright, they're gone, you're fine."

"L-L-Lin?" Kya stopped thrashing.

"Yes, I'm here." With a strangled sob, Kya sagged against Lin. Lin let her rest thus for a few seconds before she said into Kya's ear, "Kya, I need to check on Bumi. I'm going to let go now."

Lin unwound her arms slowly, giving Kya time to support herself. She proceeded to Bumi and removed his gag.

"About time!" he exclaimed hoarsely. Lin cracked his rock-bindings.

"I was enjoying the quiet," Lin retorted. "It's usually so hard to get you to shut up."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean? Don't blame me for being a friendly, chatty sort of fellow," grumbled Bumi. He rubbed at his wrists and ankles. Under his bravado, Lin could see he was pale.

With her help, he was able to stand. They joined Kya, who had half-scooted, half-crawled to her youngest brother, and Tenzin. Bumi leaned against the wall for support. Lin knelt.

"Kya?"

"We need...we need to get his leg fixed. He's also got at least one, maybe two broken ribs," Kya informed her shakily.

"I'll find you some water," Lin said, rising again. "You three stay here and don't move. Druk, keep watch, please."

After a brief search, Lin returned with a basin of water. Kya reached for it, collected a handful, and spread it out above Tenzin's leg. It rippled - and fell apart. Tenzin cried out at the impact. Lin seized his hand.

Kya gasped. "I - I - don't know what -"

"Try again," Lin encouraged. "Maybe on his arm." She nodded at a bloody rip in his sleeve.

Kya repeated the motion of gathering water. She laid it over the rip, but no glow emanated.

"Come on, come on," Kya whispered, "Please." For an instant, the water brightened before, once again, falling free of Kya's control.

"I can't. I can't make it do what I want. It's like - like trying to swim against the current," Kya whimpered. "I'm sorry."

"Ming-Hua, did she bloodbend you?" Lin asked softly. Tenzin's hand clenched on hers.

"Yes, she did," Bumi growled, and spat. "She said she'd heard some waterbenders could do it now without the full moon and wanted to experiment."

Kya could only nod her head.

"It's not your fault, Kya," Lin assured her. "There's more help on the way, we'll just have to make do until then. Can you talk us through a splint?"

"Yes - Yes, I can." Kya's breathing steadied. "We'll need two straight sticks and something to use as binding."

From her free hand, Lin let a length of cable coil on the ground. "This should do." She squeezed Tenzin's hand and caught his gaze. "I'm sorry, Tez. This is going to hurt. But the longer we wait, the harder it'll be to fix."

"I know," he managed.

"Kya?" Lin prompted.

"Okay...Bumi, could you remove his boot, carefully? Lin, it - it might be easier to cut the trousers."

Tenzin moaned as Bumi unlaced and drew off his boot. Lin transferred Tenzin's hand to his sister, needing both of hers. One hand held the fabric taut, the other skimmed a blade along the outside seam. She stopped three-quarters up his thigh and repeated the process with the inside seam, stopping a little shorter. Cutting crosswise, she removed the material.

She swallowed bile. Above and below the knee, swathes of red-and-purple bruises marked the sites of the broken bones. For a wonder, no bone shards broke the skin, but Lin had enough experience to know these were serious breaks.

Tenzin retched. Lin jerked her head up and ordered, "Close your eyes and breathe." He did, shuddering on every inhale.

"What next, Kya?" demanded Lin.

"Splints…"

Lin crafted two long rods nearly the length of Tenzin's leg. Kya bit her lip and loosed Tenzin's hand.

"We have to set the bones properly," she said. "Lin, I need to be where you are. Bumi, stay there and don't let him move the other leg. Lin, can you hold him still?"

Lin moved, letting Kya kneel by her brother's knee. Bumi straddled Tenzin's good leg to use his weight as restraint.

To Tenzin, she murmured, "You're going to want to bite down on something. You wouldn't happen to still have one of those handkerchiefs you're always carrying around, just in case some weepy woman starts to cry on you or a sick kid is spewing snot?"

"Cloak pocket," he whispered.

Lin shook her head and mumbled, "Right. Of course. I forgot you're_ insane._" Sure enough, upon examination, she fished out a moderately clean handkerchief. Rolling it up, she placed it between his teeth. She heard Bumi rend the pant leg into strips.

"Bite, and don't look," she directed. Bracing herself on her knees, she wrapped her arms about his torso, pinning his arms. Tenzin emitted a sharp sound, part sob and part whimper and turned his head into her shoulder. Lin nodded at Kya.

What followed convinced Lin that she had been entirely too merciful with the Red Lotus.

When it was over, Lin eyed Bumi and Kya. Pale and shaking, they both looked a step away from cracking.

"_People fall back on what they've been trained," Katara explained, stowing the medicines she'd been teaching to Lin in their chest. "If they're in shock, you can help get them out of it by reminding them of their training. A soldier, a Healer, a teacher, a police officer - if you can get those instincts to kick in, that will help them help themselves."_

"Bumi, you're going to scout the area," Lin informed him, using the same tone of voice she practiced on her officers. "Find us someplace defendable to hole up - preferably with something flat for Tenzin. On your way back, bring me as much metal as you can carry."

Bumi straightened his shoulders and stood. "Got it."

"But what if -" started Kya, fear washing over her face.

"There's no one else left, Kya. Besides, Bumi is the least injured of the three of you and probably knows the Temple better than I do. But -" Lin reached for her boot and drew forth a dagger. She offered the hilt to Bumi. "Take this."

Bumi grasped the knife, knuckles whitening, and something seemed to settle within him. A droplet of steel rolled into Lin's palm. One-handed, she molded it into a whistle. This too she gave to Bumi.

"_If _you run into trouble…"

"Will do," replied Bumi. For a second, Lin throught he would snap a salute, but he aborted the gesture. "I'll be back in jiffy."

Kya stared after her brother. Lin called to her, "Kya! _Kya!_"

"What is - is it?"

"I need you to tell me what needs to be done for Tenzin, and for you and Bumi," Lin directed, albeit gently. "We're going to get inside, under shelter, but what next?"

"We - ah - we need to keep him warm. Against shock," Kya's voice grew stronger. "Clean the wounds to try to prevent infection although we might be too late -" The panicked edge loomed.

"- and we might not," interrupted Lin. "What medicines do you have on hand? Where are they? Which ones might be useful?"

Kya gulped, hard, and replied with less of a quaver, "We're fully stocked. There's a big medicine chest in the pantry off the main kitchens."

As Kya talked through the most likely remedies, Lin watched the fear and panic recede.

Tucked against her, Tenzin continued to tremble. He had one hand clamped on her arm, clamped so hard Lin knew there'd be bruises in the shape of his fingers later. Unable to do more, she simply held him, hoping it was enough.

Neither she nor Tenzin budged, with Kya reciting medicines to herself, until Bumi returned. He carried a heap of decorative pots and vases and other miscellaneous metal objects in his arms. One pot teetered atop his head, a madman's helmet. Kya snorted a laugh tinged with hysteria.

"There's a dormitory, five minutes walk. I brought all I could find and carry - they're pretty flimsy - I had to take the lighter ones to get more -" He laid them on the ground.

Lin extended her senses to the pile. "They'll do."

She lifted a hand from Tenzin's shoulder and touched his cheek. "I have to get up."

A slow blink signaled his acceptance. Lin beckoned to Kya. Kya slid into Lin's place at her brother's side and Lin walked over to the pile.

Off to the side, Druk grumbled; Lin started, cables whipping into life. He grumbled again.

"You forget about the big damn dragon, Lin?" Bumi teased, incredulous.

"Shut up. He's not a threat."

Not a threat, not someone she loved who was hurting, not her problem.

She retracted the cables and focused on the pile. Melting together, it coalesced into a flat sheet.

"Little thin for a stretcher?" Bumi questioned.

"It'll hold," Lin replied sternly.

It did. With metalbending lifting the stretcher, they carried Tenzin to the scouted dormitory. Kya dragged a second mattress onto the chosen bed, the mattresses conforming to the austerity requirements a bit too much.

By tilting the stretcher, Bumi and Lin eased Tenzin onto the bed. He tried to help, but had no strength remaining beyond biting back cries.

Lin waited until the waves of pain diminished before saying, "I'll fetch what we'll need. And radio the rescue party."

None of three appeared happy at this pronouncement. Tenzin's fingers wiggled weakly. Lin took his hand, pressing it between hers. "I'll be quick. I promise."

"I could go with you - you shouldn't go alone -" Bumi offered.

"No - you didn't have a problem did you? - I want you to stay here," countered Lin. She nodded at the knife hanging jerry-rigged at his belt. "Just in case. I'll be fine."

Tenzin attempted to cling onto her hand. It was dishearteningly easy to free herself. Lin said, "Don't worry about me. I'll come back and I'll be _fine_."

She forced herself to leave.

She completed one trip to the kitchens, medicines and bandages and food supplies loaded into a sack and slung across her back, and delivered the supplies to the room.

On her second trip, its aim the communications tower, she stopped in the coliseum.

Lin debated the merits of killing P'Li.

She doubted the woman would ever betray any alive Red Lotus members. Not to mention, Lin had killed her lover. That would make her dangerously unpredictable, having nothing left to lose and everything to avenge.

It would solve the problem of imprisoning her as well.

It would be effortless.

"_Life is precious, all life. Even Ozai's. Even Yakone's. I will not end a life, not if there is any way I can avoid it bar allowing that person to kill another," Aang explained patiently, responding to Lin's infuriated demand as to why he had allowed Yakone to live after the criminal nearly killed her mother and Sokka. _

Cables shoved P'Li against the wall. Iron shackled her throat, wrists, upper arms, thighs, and ankles. The ends burrowed into the wall, a foot deep and then blossomed inside the stone to embed themselves even more securely. Skin-tight, a metal hood encased P'Li head. A grate formed over her mouth and nose; her eyes blank depressions in the metal.

It was hard to walk away.

But Lin did.


End file.
